“AI May be the Ghostwriter of That Sports News Article You Just Enjoyed!”
“That Sports News Story You Clicked on Could Be AI Slop”
“Take a look at sports news site SBNation. Each of its team-specific sites—SB Nation Arizona, SB Nation Boston, etc. —is manned by a mix of human writers, editors, and, increasingly, AI ‘writers’.”
In the ever-evolving arena of sports news, SBNation seems to be shifting the game towards automation. The platform’s team-specific sites are now assigned a fascinating menagerie of humans, editors, and AI ‘writers’. That’s right folks, artificial intelligence is geared up and ready to shoot some goals in the writing field. Talk about the future knocking on our doors!
Drilling down into the details, these AI-written pieces are largely the product of software called ‘Automated Insights’. This wonder-creation takes a heap of data, in this case mostly comprised of game statistics, and turns them into sentences. Move over Shakespeare, looks like robots are the new poets, translating raw numbers into eye-catching lines.
However, devotees of the written word worry not! These AI-generated posts are, to put it politely, more ‘assemblages of facts’ than poetic expressions. They might get you the game statistics faster than you can blink, but they lack the nuance and verve that comes from a human pen. In short, don’t expect these AI pieces to wax eloquent about the beautiful game’s tactical nuances or a hockey fight’s visceral thrill.
Moreover, these AI ‘writers’ seem to have a knack for the sensational—often blowing coin-flip decisions into full-blown scandals and controversies. It’s as if they were programmed in a tabloid newsroom!
On the other hand, though, there’s the undeniable benefit of quick coverage. With AI rapidly putting words together, news is getting faster. In this age where time equals money, fast news is a compelling offer. With the right algorithm setting the course, the machine can often beat the human in record time. Speed, unfortunately for us humble humans, is a language that the digital generation understands.
In conclusion, while it’s quite a spectacle to see machines dabbling in the art of writing, it’s clear that their pieces are more suited for data hounds than the casual sports fan. For now, at least, there remains something ineffable about human-generated content that gives it the indefinable edge.
Sure, the bots might be lapping up the applause with their lightning-fast delivery, but when it comes to the final whistle, it’s the human touch that scores the winning goal. While AI might be a fast learner, it still has a lot to learn. As the saying goes, no one can automate charm and charisma, just yet.
Read the original article here: https://www.wired.com/story/ai-slop-sports-news-sites/